Iran's president set to visit Venezuela

Reuters:

The presidents of Iran and Venezuela, two major oil producers pushing to maintain high prices and at odds with U.S. global policies, meet this week for talks that could stoke tensions with Washington. read more

Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, whose country U.S. President George W. Bush calls part of an "axis of evil" and accuses of seeking to develop nuclear weapons, will make a three-day visit to Venezuela to begin on Thursday.

Khatami will hold talks with President Hugo Chavez, whom Washington has criticized as a regional troublemaker and who has called for a counterweight to U.S. international influence. The United States is a major buyer of Venezuelan oil, but Chavez has been seeking alternative energy partners.

OPEC members Iran and Venezuela will sign deals in oil, gas, petrochemicals and shipping during Khatami's visit, officials said.

The deals do not represent a major policy shift. However, the visit is likely to play poorly with Washington, said Humberto Calderon Berti, a former Venezuelan foreign minister and former oil minister.

"I think Chavez is playing an extremely dangerous geopolitical game, because he's permanently provoking and challenging the U.S. and drawing closer to countries that have strained relations with Washington," Calderon said.

"All that's left is for him to visit North Korea," he added.

The U.S. Embassy declined to comment before the visit. ...

"For the first time in history, a Venezuelan government is using oil not as an instrument of international diplomacy, but openly as a weapon to apply political pressure," said Calderon, who served as OPEC's President in 1979-1980.

If Chavez also aggressively endorsed Iran's nuclear ambitions this would worsen his image in Washington, Calderon said.

During his stay, Khatami will inaugurate a $35 million Iranian joint venture to assemble farm tractors in Venezuela, said to be the Islamic republic's first major direct investment in Latin America.